1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a method and apparatus to segment a motion area in real-time to detect motion in a surveillance camera system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus to segment a motion area to detect motion while simultaneously performing a noise removal and a motion area segmentation even in a low illumination environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surveillance systems in which closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are used are continually being developed. In a surveillance system, an image sequence is transmitted to a surveillance center and displayed on various video monitor screens. Security guards observe hundreds of video channels displayed on monitor screens. An artificially intelligent video surveillance system applies a motion detection algorithm which determines the area in which an object is in motion in a given image, thereby making it easier for the security guards to pinpoint moving objects. As a result, the security guards only focus on the monitor in which motion of the object is detected.
Even if there is no motion, the surveillance system needs to record large amounts of video data. A video compression algorithm is used to store the large amounts of video data when a storage capacity is limited due to the large amounts of data generated in the video surveillance system. However, in a dark environment, the compression efficiency of the video compression algorithm is decreased due to noise of an image sensor. In order to overcome this problem, a motion detection algorithm is used particularly at night. The motion detection algorithm determines whether an object is in motion in an image and if no motion is determined, the image is not recorded. Accordingly, motion is detected with an efficient technology and it is more efficient at night where less motion is generated.
In a conventional surveillance system, most motion detection is performed by using a modification of a thresholding method such as a mixture of Gaussian, Pfinder, and W4. In these technologies, an area segmentation of moving objects is performed in pixel units based on an image threshold of a difference between a background image and a current image and a morphological filter as a post-process. This technology can be performed satisfactorily during the daytime; however, false positives and aural warnings may be generated at night due to noise in an image sequence.